Entrusting the construction of the boat to Pionia, Carol and I returned to the coast.

“It’s been a long time since Carol last saw the sea … it’s beautiful.”

“Carol has been on a journey all this time after all.”

“Yeah. But, even as a peddler, there’s not much freedom as we have a determined trade route so it doesn’t mean we can travel the world. Carol’s father and mother passed away quite some time ago so, to be honest, Carol only has vague memories of seeing the sea.”

“I see … ”

I couldn’t say anything more.

The pain of losing parents and the fact that the reason lies with oneself, it is also a past and present that I carry.

It was still only afternoon so Carol’s power as a Temptress couldn’t be used yet and we couldn’t see the stars yet either.

Hence, we first entered the forest.

“At the very least, we should check what lies at the depths of the forest.”

“You’re right … wait?”

Perhaps because Carol was together with me now, my head had cooled down a little and I could recall a skill that could be used at that time.

Hawk’s Eye: Other Skill【Hunter Lv60】

Allows vision of the ground from above in the sky.

At maximum, the height can be set to a height of 1 kilometer.

If I used that, I would be able to check the surrounding landscape.

“Carol, I’ll use Hawk’s Eye so please look after my body for a bit.”

I activated Hawk’s Eye.

My field of view alone steadily rose higher and higher.

Then, after rising for some time, I checked the surroundings.

The island was naturally surrounded by the sea and even though I could look out over a further distance than before, I still could not see a single shadow of another island.

The island we were in looked almost circular.

The island’s diameter was about 2 kilometers?

When I looked below my feet, I saw the figures of myself looking down while standing as well as Carol.

Then, I shifted my line of sight and looked at the forest.

A dense and overgrown forest — however, the central portion was somewhat strange. There was a place without any trees at all.

Due to the cover of the other trees, I could not make out what was there but I was curious.

I couldn’t tell what was there in the end even after I raised my altitude even more.

Cancelling Hawk’s eye, my line of sight changed and returned to the white sandy beach.

“Ichino-sama, how was it?”

“There is an empty space without any trees growing in the center of the forest. I think there might be something like a spring there so I want to go have a look.”

Getting suddenly thrown into an unknown space was also similar to what happened when I died after getting kicked by a horse.

I panicked quite a bit that time as well.

When I came to this world, it was Daijiro-san’s note that abated my panic.

And then, this time, it was all thanks to Carol that I could regain my calm.

“So Ichino-sama will be flustered like that too. But Carol is the one who has been helped.”

“No no, at the very least, this time I could see the prospect of escape because Carol acted calmly.”

It’s embarrassing but if I was alone, I would not have thought of the means of escape Carol came up with no matter how much time passed.

No, of course, I would realize it sooner or later.

But I did truly feel that it was thanks to Carol.

However, Carol shook her head.

“Carol could remain calm because Carol believed that Ichino-sama would definitely work something out. If Ichino-sama wasn’t here, Carol would probably cry incessantly and not take any action?”

“I don’t think that would happen? Carol is always level-headed —”

“Ichino-sama, have you forgotten? When Carol first met Ichino-sama, Carol wanted to die? It was from the depths of Carol’s heart. But, Carol did not have the courage to suicide. That’s why Carol did not refuse Oregeru-sama’s request to enter the labyrinth and Carol wanted to die by doing so. It was not absolute but Carol definitely does not see Carol’s action at that time as calm.”

“Carol, that is in the past. The Carol we know today is the most knowledgeable among us, a person to consult to and a partner we can rely on. I seriously rely on you.”

” … Carol feels a little embarrassed hearing such words.”

Carol smiled shyly with a ‘Ehehe’.

“Well then, traveling to the center of the forest … Carol, be careful. I sense the presence of monsters everywhere. In general, in an uninhabited island like this that is likely not even listed on the world map, it is guaranteed that there would be hidden treasure and monsters that protect it … there might even be a hidden labyrinth.”

Of course, that is speaking in terms of games but this world is more or less linked to games.

The possibility isn’t zero so it would be better to maintain some tension.

“I don’t know about treasures but the possibility of monsters and labyrinths is high.”

“Eh? Serious? By right, the aim of labyrinths is to gather and purify miasma but if it can’t completely purify it then the miasma will transform and appear as monsters right?”

For that reason, there is a need for adventurers to enter labyrinths to defeat monsters and completely purify the miasma in the labyrinths and for that sake, there is a Goddess Statue at the deepest part to bestow adventurers with a bonus.

I believe that is the belief that is going around.

That’s why I didn’t think there would be labyrinths in places where there are no humans.

“That is true. But, if there are strong monsters that mark the labyrinth as its territory, then the story is different. Monsters would kill each other and purify the labyrinth.”

“So humans aren’t the only enemies for monsters, it’s even possible for monsters themselves to be the monster’s enemies?”

Well, thinking about it, it is unthinkable that in the absence of humans, monsters would hold hand in hand and live harmoniously.

Even on Earth, without humans around, or rather, precisely when there are no humans that the food chain of kill or be killed will occur.

The possibility of labyrinth huh … if that is true then embarking to conquer the labyrinth might not be a bad choice.

If it is a labyrinth managed by Koshmar-sama or Torerul-sama, I would be able to directly talk to the Goddess-samas and ask them. If I can do that, we could tell where we are without having to wait for night time. If that happens, it would become considerably easier to escape from this island and I might even obtain some information on my new skill from the Goddess-samas.

Actually, even if it isn’t the two of them, I might be able to meet the other Goddesses I am acquainted with like Libra-sama and Setolance-sama.

So the probability is 4/6, over 66%.

Even if it is the other Goddesses, Carol and I would be able to level up and get the clear bonus.

Well, everything is dependent on whether there is a labyrinth there, no point counting my chickens before they hatch.

“Okay, shall we enter the forest?”

Saying that, I took my sword out of my item bag, attached it to my waist and drew the sword.

“Let’s go. Carol, follow behind me.”

“Yes, Ichino-sama.”

Thus, we traversed into the forest as I cut through the grass while sometimes trampling down the grass.

It was meant to make it easier for Carol to move as well as mark out the path so we won’t lose sight of our return path and to be sure, I occasionally used Hawk’s Eye after advancing a certain distance to confirm our position and it took us 5 hours to reach the center of the forest.

It was already evening and inside the forest, it was practically night time.

Normally, I would have chosen to either return to the shore or return to My World.

However, I could not restrain my curiosity towards the place I saw with Hawk’s Eye.

Located there was — something close to a spring, what I imagined initially.

I didn’t expect something like that to be there.

“Ichino-sama, this is the first time Carol sees it personally.”

“I see. It’s also the first time I’ve seen it after coming to this world.”

It’s something that can be said to be rare in Japan but practically everyone would have seen it multiple times.

However, it is bound to become a tourist attraction.

Located there was warm hot water — a hot spring.

“A natural open-air hot spring …”

Steam wrapped around the deserted hot spring.

Clearly, the temperature has been set wrongly … now then, what do we do now?

While thinking that, I took out a cloth from my item bag and prepared to enter the hot spring.

17 Comments

Anon

I just want to write a lil’ rant here; I was only reading it because of the explosions in unlocked ‘Jobs’, and as of late, we got very little of it…I can’t say anything about what we’re seeing is a good replacement.

OhMarioWV

Operatix

Neither did I (I’m too lazy to look if we’re right), when they talked about how awesome of a person they think of each other… it was a bit annoying. I never felt like that till the last 2 or was it 3? chaps.